<p>shaun0203~you may want to take another look at the CCU requirements. from my read it looks like they will be expecting a monologue and they say you can demonstrate dance as well. read the body of the largest text area not just the side box. :)</p>
<p>CoachC and I crossposting. Oops. :)</p>
<p>The new text was just added this morning :)</p>
<p>Thanks - definitely goes to note to ALWAYS double-check a school’s website for changes. I will update my spreadsheet - I had been surprised they weren’t including monologues!</p>
<p>You make one LITTLE omission… 
Yes. I’m sorry. You sometimes forget that the things you are working on go “live” immediately. I was working on the page, and got distracted. Didn’t notice the issue until a faculty member caught it the next morning. Others caught it as well and sent questions about why on earth we weren’t including a monologue. So, just to be clear. CCU: Two contrasting songs, preferably one from the golden age of musicals, and a monologue. That shouldn’t exceed three minutes. If you are a dancer, we’d love to see some dance. That section can be added time beyond the three minutes. Thanks everyone for catching my mistakes. There are a lot to catch.</p>
<p>I have been chatting with a number of people in the college MT “world.”</p>
<p>Pre-screens are going to be even more important moving forward. Last year, my son did a video pre-screen for Michigan, but he ended up using it for his final audition for Otterbein and to assist him in securing an audition for Penn State when his original flight was cancelled due to snow. (It was their final scheduled audition.)</p>
<p>We were so happy we had those videos.</p>
<p>More students are auditioning than ever and in addition to the qualified applicants, there are more inexperienced applicants auditioning. This requires more audition dates and more resources from the colleges. So there will be more pre-screens which saves more time and money - for everyone. More schools will be going to them each and every year. It is inevitable.</p>
<p>This year, more schools than usual exhausted their waitlists. I believe this will mean longer waitlists next year. But after talking to “people in the know,” it looks as if they may also “go to the tape” if necessary. What tape? What video? Well some schools videotape the actual live audition. Other schools may go back to the pre-screen video that got the student there. </p>
<p>The pre-screen video is going to be more important than ever. And no matter what the schools say, the quality of the actual video WILL matter since bad quality, bad sound, fuzzy picture can hurt the chances of the school concentrating on the audition of the student. Because the schools’ requirements are different, students will be laying down more monologues, more songs and more dances in advance. There will be re-shoots over and over and over to get it just right. The selections will be very important.</p>
<p>And these videos will need to be finished by October or November. </p>
<p>So high school class of 2014, the time to start is now!!! Start getting your songs ready, monologues, get a choreographer, hire a coach, (personal preference, I know, I know), and get ready to shoot in September, early October.</p>
<p>Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Thank you grayhairedman for the heads up. I’m actually glad that more schools will start requiring prescreens. This saves us all time and money if you know a school is not interested from the start.</p>
<p>However, it does scare me a bit that “the quality” could be a deciding factor. We plan on making a video with good quality, but didn’t want to have to go to a “professional”.</p>
<p>When budgeting for pre-screen auditions, definitely plan for costs associated with the pre-screen videos. There are more costs involved than you might think. To help save $, we hired a high school student who does a lot of independent film making and is going to college to pursue that passion. He taped the auditions, then actually went back and edited the auditions, per the instructions for each school, also putting titles on each file for us. So, we had a Michigan file, a Penn State file, etc… that could be uploaded. The good news is we passed all of the prescreens except for Indiana? (Kind of strange but it was not on the top of our list so that was ok.) He also burned CDs for each so we could mail them in that way as well.</p>
<p>Other costs/tips: </p>
<p>Location: We filmed ours at a local dance studio at no cost. Other friends borrowed a learning stage at a local theater I believe at no cost. Others used the high school stage if it was available. Some others paid to rent a stage or studio for an hour or two. If you do this, make sure you know exactly what you are taping, in what order. You don’t want to have to pay overtime for the space or the accompanist or the videographer.</p>
<p>Piano: We also had to pay for an accompanist since the prescreens don’t allow for taped accompaniment or for singing acapella. And we don’t play piano!</p>
<p>Dance: We paid for an hour of time to have someone choreograph the different dance portions as each school wanted something different. Our daughter is not a dancer per se but has had some dance. With a professional choreographing this part, we were able to show off what she does well and minimize areas where she needs improvement.</p>
<p>Clothes: Pay attention to what they want you to wear to audition. Wear the same or similar clothes for your pre-screen videos.</p>
<p>Slating: Know exactly how they want you to introduce yourself and your pieces. Know what order they are to be in. Know if they want everything slated up front. Or if they want each piece slated individually.</p>
<p>I agree, even though they say the quality doesn’t matter - I think it does to an extent. I don’t think you have to have a fully professional video (as I said, we used a high school student to film ours), but I don’t think they would have come off as well if we had tried to tape them ourselves.</p>
<p>I hear more and more schools will be pre-screening because the number of applicants to MT programs has soared. Schools don’t have time to spend with the students they really want to consider because they are having to weed through the masses at auditions. So prescreens will help both applicant and the school in the long run. Students won’t waste their time and money applying to schools who are not interested in them, and schools will have more time to really learn about students during their auditions if they have fewer participating at the in-person auditions. Also, don’t forget, schools like Michigan and Penn State have an academic pre-screen you have to pass as well before you can audition. So keep those grades up!</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know that anyone will HAVE to hire a professional, but quality will matter. It’s important that the sound, picture and framing be very good. We had a friend of ours help us with ours. He owns a video company. He was a friend of the family. I have access to a rehearsal studio. We fed him dinner. Lucky us.</p>
<p>But later, we had to do an intro segment for Otterbein. Shot it at home with our own camera in the kitchen. Natural light. It was ok. (Although that was my son’s only rejection. (No, no, don’t go there. The video replaced his campus callback. Still paranoid.)</p>
<p>Anyway, no reason to spend a zillion dollars on this but thought, time and care - yes.</p>
<p>Great info vvnstar.</p>
<p>I don’t think you MUST go to a “professional” but I agree with grayhairedman that it is important to get a good sharp picture and clear quality sound: no distortion, not too tinny or bassy, not recorded in a very echoey room and minimal background noise. This is something we could have done ourselves with a decent video camera but we decided to go with a professional recording service that was recommended by my son’s coach. They were familiar with all the requirements for each school including slating which saved a lot of extra editing work for us. We felt that it was money well spent and I would recommend going with a professional or high school student like vvnstar, especially if you need videos for 3 or more schools. Luckily, I was able to play piano for my son which saved us having to hire an accompanist.</p>
<p>It is also important to have the videos ready as soon as schools begin allowing uploads. That will give you the most flexibility for scheduling live auditions.</p>
<p>2nd reminder to keep those grades and test scores up. I know Michigan will not even look at your video unless you can first pass their academic requirements.</p>
<p>good points everyone. I am not sure about the pre screens being ‘professional’, but it surely can’t hurt especially if you are in the group that needs a little help. It took me forever to get my daughter going on the prescreen. I think she wanted it perfect, well finally in December she decides she better get it done. I would have thought that since Texas State was her top choice she wouldn’t have waited until the last minute to do it. Luckily she only had to do it for TSU. Viterbo wanted something too, but I don’t think it was a prescreening per say, because she was granted an audition at Unifieds without the prescreening. </p>
<p>At any rate, one night she decides to set up the camera and tape herself in her bedroom of all places! Let’s just say it wasn’t professional. I would not suggest this for anyone! Do it early but don’t fret too much, relax and be yourself. TSU uses getacceptd and that helped because you can upload other videos of performances and such. Hope this helps. </p>
<p>I don’t feel like you have to go overboard. If your child has what it takes I think a good quality video should be enough. Like many have said, pre screening is a result of what I call the GLEE factor.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone mentioned unless i missed it but Pace University requires a pre-screen for both MT and acting. It is uploaded through the use of “getaccepted”. They send you the link once you apply. YOu must make it through this first cut to get a live audition date. U of the Arts happens to use this same system and offers you the OPTION to upload videos and get accepted through the first round - using your in person audition as your “callback”. That can save you the cost of going there if you don’t make it through the first cut.</p>
<p>Could someone explain what ‘slating’ entails please?</p>
<p>“Slating” is the introduction they do for their pieces at the beginning of the audition, whether it’s live or video. My son was taught to do it a specific way at his summer program; when he submitted his prescreen video, the school requested very specific information and format. But the way he learned to slate was to say “Hi, I’m Joe Theaterkid, and this is “Monologue One” by Playwright One and “Monologue Two” by Playwright Two.” Then pause and begin. There are other formulas, I think–including saying where you’re from, if they ask for that–but it seems like the important thing is to be calm, clear, friendly, and not engage in distracting behavior!</p>
<p>Thank you Times3! I got it now.</p>
<p>Nebraska Wesleyan University requires a pre-screen this year</p>
<p>I’m not sure if it’s been posted and I just missed it somehow, but Pace requires a pre-screen as well.</p>
<p>Be sure to go to the Acceptd Facebook page and check out their suggestions on recording your prescreen audition.</p>
<p>Made a list of what was here; feel free to add!</p>
<p>Coastal Carolina University
East Carolina University
Indiana University
Nebraska Wesleyan University
NYU/Steinhardt
Otterbein University
Pace University
Penn State
Shenandoah Conservatory
Texas State University
University of Cincinnati (voice program)
University of Michigan
University of Oklahoma</p>